


A to Z

by namelessjen



Category: Larry Stylinson - Fandom, One Direction (Band)
Genre: AU, Art, Homophobia, Love, M/M, Music, Teachers
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2015-05-03
Updated: 2015-05-12
Packaged: 2018-03-28 18:41:34
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 4
Words: 8,392
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/3865552
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/namelessjen/pseuds/namelessjen
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>Teachers AU || </p><p>Louis' always wanted to be a teacher, but his Husband Harry just wants to make art. </p><p>A story about two gay men, the struggles of being accepted in the industry, the struggles of saving the arts in the school systems, and wanting to follow your dreams no matter which path they lead you on</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. A-Holes

**Author's Note:**

> This idea came to me at work, sitting in the staff room at a school and watching the way teachers interact with each other. Let's see how this goes down.

Louis closed the front door, the wind no longer blowing his mangy hair over his eyes. He could still hear it howling outside of his window, but he was glad to finally be out of the cold. He hollowed his cheeks as he wriggled out of his raincoat, tossing it up over the coat rack. It was a mad dash up the stairs, he nearly toppled over by the fifteenth, but he savoured himself, mentally giving him a high five. 

"Harry? Haz?" He called out to make his entrance known, yet the noise of him nearing his death via the stairs probably already alerted his husband that he was home. 

He threw down his scarf at the top of the stairs, unbuttoned his top buttons as he walked into the living room. By the time he was seated on his favourite recliner he was already half undressed from a busy day of work, snuggling into the fluffy blanket that usually covered his favourite chair. Ginger, one of Harry's old cats immediately made herself at home upon his lap. "At least you're happy to see me." He cooed, scratching her behind the ears just the way she liked it. 

"I heard that." Harry called out from their kitchen. He had only been home fifteen minutes earlier than Louis, which was still a great accomplishment considering they were both teachers at the same secondary school. 

"Well it's no word of a lie." Louis shouted back in amusement. 

 

Harry wandered out, smiling at the sight of his two favourites snuggling on the couch. "Look at you old farts, ready for bed already? S'not even half six yet." He teased, walking over to press a kiss to Louis' forehead. 

"How was your day?" Louis asked him sweetly, taking hold of his husband from the back of his neck, he didn't want him to pull away so soon. 

Harry shrugged his shoulders, he wasn't in the mood to talk about his day just yet. It wasn't a walk in the park, it never was at their school. He was still struggling to connect with his students, he wasn't the "cool" teacher like Louis was, he was more traditional, despite the fact that he taught art and all. 

"Still having a rough time?" Louis asked, as if reading his thoughts. Harry shook his head, he didn't want Louis to worry about him. He hated it when he did that. He felt like a burden, which he wasn't - but still. He ran his fingers up against Louis' face, reaching them down to press against his blanket covered chest. "It's nothing, just teenagers being brats." He spoke like he was unsure of the words that fell past his lips, but Louis knew better than to question him. When Harry felt like he was being invaded, he shut off his mind and nobody could break through. He didn't want that, he didn't want that to happen to his husband again. 

"They're finally starting to get creative though.." Harry told him flatly, and before Louis had the breath to answer him Harry had already rushed out of the room, Louis frowned and started stroking the kitty that was desperate for more attention. 

The curly haired male poked his head back into Louis' vision before long. In his hands were Harry's most recent of many port folios. He's often draw the curtains in the spare room and spend hours painting or drawing. This was one of his newest works of art. He handed it over, and Louis was confused at first, this was Harry's work, not his student's. He flicked open the front page, noticing Harry's familiar handwriting scrawled across the page 'Book #23, a Melting Sunrise' 

Harry often named his books after the first thing he placed in the pages. Louis smiled as he thumbed over the front page, turning it so he could look at his favourite artist's creations. His face fell when he turned to see why Harry had made the comments he had. 

"They didn't." He said in a shocked whisper, hand falling across his gaping mouth. It was heartbreaking to stare across at the sunset that was once like looking at a photograph. Harry had spent hours staring out the windows, taking pictures and drawing sketches of the sun. He shook his head, not wanting to believe that these students could be so cruel. 

In blood red block letters the word "faggot" stated back at the man. He couldn't fathom what had come over those kids, Harry was a respectable young man, he was funny and charming and kind. Louis didn't know why anybody would stoop to this low. He was disgusted by it in fact. "Have you told...." He trailed off as Harry's look of disgust made him lose his train of thought. 

"I'm 24 Louis, I'm not running to my mother. Don't bloody well care if she were the Queen of England." Harry told him sternly, and like Louis understood where he was coming from. The fact that Harry's mother was the school's principal must be hard on him. He always had such pride in getting everywhere by his own merit, and the rumours had flown when he had been hired, some of the other student teachers from his class at uni thought he'd only gotten the job because of her. It was rubbish though, Anne wasn't even the one who hired her son, and Harry only took the position to be closer to his fiancé at the time. 

"This is just making me cross." Louis declared, slamming the book shut and handing it back to his husband. Those kids had no right to treat him like that, no fucking right. "Do you have any idea who did this?" 

Harry shook his head, his fingers rubbed at his tired eyes as he did so, he really just wanted to snuggle up with his husband and forget about school for the rest of the evening. He was done taking their crap that was for sure. He was an adult, and yes he was the Principal's son, but that didn't mean he was any less of a teacher than anyone else hired straight out of uni. 

"I'm going to order in some pizza's, and then we can watch Murdock Mysteries. Yeah?" Louis suggested, knowing it was one of Harry's favourite telly programmes. 

Harry nodded his head gently, slipping the book down to the floor so he didn't have to think about it any longer. He scooped Louis up into his arms, ignoring Ginger's meowing protests as she leaped out of Louis' lap and scurried off down the dark hallway. 

Harry nested down onto the three seater sofa, plopping Louis onto his lap so they could be closer. Louis knew that when Harry was cuddly like this it was best not to mention it, best not to make him feel any more vulnerable than he had to. "Love you pet." He breathed, finger tips reaching out to touch his husband's delicate skin. Harry's green eyes disappeared under the folds of his eyelids, taking in the gentle touch, filling up on the soft moment. 

 

\-- 

The morning rush usually entailed Harry waking up at the crack of dawn, leaving Louis to have a lay in. He didn't have the heart to wake him up until he absolutely had to, which was usually after he's cleaned the house, made breakfast and showered himself ready to leave. Louis loved sleeping, which was why he was a monster when you tried to wake him up before he was ready, Harry knew this, which was why he got most of the house work done while Louis was asleep, with their busy schedules it was the only time their house had any attention, and if Louis was awake and grumpy, nothing would get done. 

Today it was the sound of the blender that woke up the sleeping beauty. He stumbled into the kitchen, wearing only his navy blue briefs, he wiped his eyes tiredly as a yawn escaped his lips. "Morning." He breathed as he fumbled around for one of the kitchen stools to park his arse on. "What're you making?" He then questioned, since Harry hadn't yet responded. 

Harry's fingers were inside a bowl of ice, he was biting down on his lower lip, his eyes staring up at the ceiling. "I was making a smoothie, but the blender and I had a small confrontation." He said with an embarrassed little laugh. 

Louis leaned over the bench, looking into the bowl and gasping slightly at the sigh of blood bleeding out of Harry's fingers into the melted water that was slowly filling up the bowl. "You've got to be more careful." He tsked, slipping his feet down to the floor so he could scurry off to find the first aid kit. 

"I'm fine, truly. It's just a small altercation." He called our after his husband who was already a foot inside of their bathroom. The sound of Louis' laughter drifted down the halls before he poked his head out of the bathroom.

"Wrong use of the word babe." He shouted down the hallway, which made Harry smile and shake his head. His curls bounced as he looked down at the bloody mess he'd made. He wasn't so great at English, it was his worst subject through secondary, probably because he was always more interested in art, he would doodle on his English notes and count down the minutes until he could walk into that art studio where his favourite teacher would greet him with one of her warm smiles. 

He would have spent hours in that classroom if he didn't have to attend classes. In fact sometimes he'd even skip a few of his other subjects, lying about having a free period just to get out of the boring classes he wanted to avoid. It was a wonder that he was even a teacher, he hadn't set out to be. All he wanted to do was travel the world and paint pictures in every city of the world, a dream his parents didn't share a vision for. They told him that if he went to university, he could study art and he could make money to be able to travel the world. They didn't want to put for him to go on a world wide holiday, even if it was to live his dreams. So that's how he had become a teacher, he had spent his time in university studying every art class he could get into, he was quite talented, always winning showcases and impressing everyone who came to see his work, but it all changed when he met Louis. Louis had his heart set out on becoming a teacher, he'd wanted to reach out to the younger generations and be that person they could look back on their schooling and remember that someone believed in them. He was passionate about young people, passionate about music, and it inspired him. Harry was in his third year of studying art when Louis landed his first teaching job, he would come home to the flat they both shared and complain about the arts program being ignored, how it was a shame that the creative students were missing out on opportunities because their dreams weren't academic, and the government wasn't funding them the way they should be. 

Harry made the switch, and a few years later he had his diploma in teaching and art, which impressed his school teacher parents, who had always wanted him to have a real job. 

The thing about Harry was that he wasn't a people person. Which was hard when you're supposed to stand up in front of a classroom of young people, who are looking at you for answers and guidance. He struggled with connecting with them. He wanted to teach art, and to make art. But he didn't know how to connect the two things. He wasn't the greatest teacher the school has ever had, but he was passionate about art, which was why he was organising a showcase for his students, wanting to show the world that young artists matter. 

"Show me the damage." Louis spoke, which caused Harry to jump. He had been lost in his thoughts temporarily, trying to keep his mind off the fact that he was leaking blood and it was making him light headed. He pulled his hand out of the ice water, his fingers were bright red from the cold, but it had numbed them which was why he had shoved his hand in there in the first place. 

"Is it bad?" He asked as Louis gently started wiping away the excess water. He had no idea how this had happened, but it was Harry, he was always getting himself hurt, always tripping over ants and such. Clumsy goof he was. 

"It's not as bad as I thought, you won't need to amputate your fingers." Louis told him, wrapping his husband's fingers with band aids to stop the bleeding, and keep them from getting infected. "What were you doing to get them into this mess anyway?" He asked once he had finished playing doctor. His eyes flickered upwards to meet his husband's glance. Harry gave him a sheepish smile, which made Louis think that he'd actually been stupid enough to shove his hand in a moving blender. 

"One of the apple pieces got stuck; I was trying to free it." He answered, looking away with the impending smirk that was spreading over his ruby lips. Louis groaned inwardly, what would Harry do without him? - seriously. 

"I'm not even going to comment on that." He told him, turning around to head back towards their bathroom. He still had to get ready for work, he couldn't aid to Harry's injuries any longer. "I'll see you at school. Yeah?" He asked, turning back once he was halfway down the hallway. There were blind spots in the kitchen, but from that room you could practically see the whole house. It was only two bedrooms, but they weren't planning on expanding the family any time soon. It worked for them, Harry used the spare room for his art, and Louis stored his keyboard in there. It worked for them, and they were happy. 

\----

Harry slammed his car door closed, the wind was gushing and his nose was tingling from the cold Autumn air. He moved to the backdoor, reaching inside to pull out a box filled with student’s art portfolios, he’d taken them home for marking a few nights earlier, he’d been extremely impressed by some of their ideas. He was inspired by their enthusiasm, excited by their creativity and proud of their progress. He’d only been teaching for a few weeks, having the school semester only starting recently but he was definitely impressed so far. He was pulling the box from his leather backseat when laughter erupted from somewhere behind him. It was still relatively early, not many students showed up before 8, which was why he liked to get to school around that time, his art room was his sanctuary. The rowdy boys didn’t dare go in there, not without being accused of being pansies. Harry had gone through that same turmoil when he was younger, despite the fact that many famous artists were males, it wasn’t cool to be into art at such a young age, especially if you were gay.

He looked around, not noticing anyone in his peripheral vision. He shrugged it of immediately, shutting his car door and locking his vehicle up. It was still unbelievably cold in the breeze, so he slipped his spare hand inside his jacket sleeve, moving towards the school steps. 

“Mr Styles, watch out!” A voice called, Harry turned at the sound of his name, but it was too late. Books toppled out of his arms as he was falling over, face flat against the cold concrete flooring. His hands had broken most of his fall, but the bloody bandaids were gaping open, he still had no idea how he’d managed to fall over, but the snickering had returned. He turned his face, his hand grabbing at his opened wound, trying to pat down the bandage to salvage Louis’ attempt of keeping his cuts out of infections. 

His eyes met with a group of boys, they weren’t in uniform but he recognised them as students. None of the boys were the owners of the voice that had alerted him to the fall, he looked down to where he’d tripped, a rope lay in a heap on the front steps. He continued to stare between the three teenage lunatics, they were smiling and feeling absolutely no remorse. What could he do? Punish them? Nobody had been a witness to their tormenting. He dusted his knees off and stood up proudly, leaning over to grab the box of school work, he could hear them whispering, making jokes about his bum that was now in the air as he reached over to grab a stray notebook that had fallen farther than the others. 

“I’ll see you in school gentlemen.” He spoke as he’d stood up once more. He didn’t give them the satisfaction of having another second longer of hurting his feelings. He walked down the footpath towards the arts building, his mind drifting away from whoever it was who’d tried to warn him.


	2. Betrayal

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank-you so much for everyone who reviewed and gave kudos. You've inspired me to keep writing!

Anne had been in the education industry for twenty five years, she knew the system like the back of her own hand. As her son sat across from her in the principal's office where she stared over at him across her desk. Harry didn't want to be sitting there, he kept fiddling with his fingernails, an old anxious habit he hadn't shaken from his childhood. She sighed, realising he wasn't going to talk to her about the incident. 

Louis had over stepped in Harry's mind. He loved his husband dearly, but he knew how he felt about telling his mother about the vandalism. He didn't want to hassle, he didn't want to give those punks the satisfaction of knowing that they'd hurt him. He continued twiddling his thumbs as if he was fifteen again, sitting in the headmaster's office after he'd been caught wagging his classes. 

"Harry, I know you don't want any trouble, but this is serious. Whoever is defacing your property need to be spoken to. They can't go into the real world with this mentality, without their actions having consequences." She argued, wanting him to just listen to the positives that could come from this. It wasn't his choice ultimately, but he was her son so she didn't want to go ahead without him being on board. 

Harry shook his head, still upset that Louis would go behind his back and over his head like this. "It's fine, they're just immature little shits." He said with a forced smile. All he wanted was to push this all under the rug, he didn't want to talk about this any longer. He was still just so humiliated from early, when they'd tripped him over before school had even started. What kind of brats went out of their way to torment an adult? He didn't understand what he'd actually done to warrant such hatred in those young men. 

"That may be, but they're never going to learn unless they're taught to change." She answered back, a sympathetic smile glossing across her lips. Harry hadn't even told her about the tripping incident, which would have made everything a whole lot worse. A part of him knew that he had no proof that the same boys were involved in ruining his artwork, but deep down he had the feeling that they had to be. No other students in the entire school have ever made him feel so unwanted, sure he hadn't connected with other students, but none have ever shown him any reason for disdain. 

"I'll think about it." He told her, mainly to shut her up, mainly just so he could leave this office and get on with the rest of his day. He still had classes to prepare for, and he wanted to start a new personal project if he had the time to spare. He didn't want to waste another second in here, talking about the fact that he was twenty four and still had teenage bullies after him. 

\---- 

It was lunch time when Louis finally caught up with his husband. He sat down on one of the lounge chairs that sat under the window in the staff room. He pulled out his sandwich that Harry had left for him earlier, peeling away the crusts and projectile tossed them towards the opened rubbish bin. Harry had always teased him about not eating his sandwich crusts, he said it was the reason why his husband's hair was dead straight, he even tried cutting them off the sandwiches when Louis started taking packed lunches, but Louis didn't like that. He said it didn't taste the same. So there he was, ripping the edges off his sandwich as Harry walked in, his arms covered in paint, sleeves rolled up past his elbows. He looked like he had just been in the zone. 

"Harry." He called over, waving his husband towards the empty spot beside of him. Harry's eyes glossed over, staring right past Louis like he wasn't really there at all. He turned his back to the older man, walking toward the fridge where he had left his own lunch hours earlier. It was childish to ignore him, but Louis had treated him like he was a child, telling on him to his mother, so he wasn't worried about it. 

"Are you mad at me?" Louis asked the silent room, he knew that in any moment the room could be flooded with other teachers, so he wanted to get this tiff sorted beforehand. He knew Harry would probably escape, preferring to eat without any form of audience. He was a hermit really, never liking crowds and Louis knew that he should just let him be, but he didn't want to. He wanted to make sure there wasn't anything wrong between them, they were married and he wanted it to stay that way. 

"I am not mad at you." Harry answered coldly, he placed his water bottle against his lips, tipping his head back so he could take a sip of the cool water, it ran down his throat with ease, the coldness made him cough lightly, made him tilt his head back to a normal position and cap his bottle up tightly. "I just don't like what you did." 

"What I did?" Louis asked with a slight frown. He searched his mind trying to figure out what it was that he could have done, something that would warrant such a cold response. "Oh!" He pieced it together, realising that he's broken the golden rule. "Harry, I'm sorry. I just don't know how to help you with this, and your mum does. Yeah? Your mum deals with this kind of thing all the time." He tried his hardest to excuse his decision, but Harry wasn't one to let things go quickly, he would sulk and pout and cross his arms for days, weeks, months even. He held grudges and even though Louis knew that he wouldn't hold one against him forever, he would probably bring it up years from now, still not completely over it. 

Harry shrugged his shoulders, he gripped his lunch in his good hand, tucking his water bottle between his arm pit and his body before walking out the door, he scooted past Mrs Walsh and Mr Mayfield, and Louis knew he couldn't rush out to chase him now. The corridor would be filled with students, and as a teacher you're supposed to keep your personal life at home. Harry knew this as well, which was why he had snuck away the way he had. It was unbelievably frustrating how well Louis knew his husband. 

\--- 

When Harry and Louis had met, Louis was in the on campus bar with some friends, Harry didn't usually make it out to be social but his friend Nick wanted him to let loose for once. Neither Louis or Harry would ever admit it to him, but he was probably the entire reason why they were together in the first place. Harry wasn't a party animal, but once he'd had a few beers he was a lot more social and at ease. He walked right over to Louis and gave him a big smile, which made Louis laugh a little. Harry was only 18 or so, and Louis was almost finished his course, he found t endearing that the youngster even thought he had a shot with him, but at the same time that smile was something he still wasn't over. 

It didn't take either of them long before they knew each other inside and out. Harry knew Louis' sleeping habits, Louis knew Harry's thinking faces, Harry knew which kind of mushrooms Louis could eat, and which ones he couldn't stand. Louis knew which underpants Harry likes to wear, and which ones made him uncomfortable. They knew each other's quirks, they knew each other's pet hates. They fell in love so quickly, and hadn't looked back since. 

\---- 

Harry ate at his desk, his classroom was dark and gloomy, but so was the weather outside. He nibbled, he spluttered, he crunched and he coughed until every bite of his salad had been consumed. He was browsing art works online, responding to emails and genuinely just enjoying his own company when a quiet knock at the door interrupted his private time. He looked up cautiously, praying that it wasn't someone coming just to upset him, or annoy him. He didn't like his lunch breaks being interrupted unless they were for good reason. He walked over towards the closed classroom door, stopping by the light switch to turn it on quickly. The light flooded throughout the art room, it hurt his eyes a little but that's only because he was like a bat in a cave. The room was half underground, so it didn't have much natural lighting to begin with. 

"Mr Styles, I know that you said we can only work on our projects during class time but I don't have any friends here today, so I was wondering....." A fair haired girl spoke with a mouse like voice, babbling on like she wasn't even sure if Harry was listening. He recognised her, she was in one of his classes. Her name was Amberley Gibson, she was in year 8 and Harry had been very impressed by her brush strokes and her steady hand, he'd even told Louis all about it a few nights ago, claiming that he'd buy her art work for millions of pounds one day, and he'd be able to tell people that he had been her art teacher. He was inspired. 

He nodded his head slowly at her mile a minute jabbering, she stopped talking and looked up at him as he stepped aside for her to slip past. She travelled over to her usual stool, taking out her portfolio, flicking through pages and pages until she landed on one of her sketches. Harry watched her intently, closing the door to let the cold air stay outside. It echoed through the concrete walls, sending a shiver down Harry's outstretched spine. 

"Mr Styles?" Her tiny voice interrupted his thoughts once more. He looked over at her, nodding his head for her to speak again. He was listening. 

"Do you mind if we work in the dark? I just prefer natural lighting when I'm working..." She asked, biting down on her lip as she felt almost embarrassed by her strange request. 

Harry shook his head, he didn't mind that at all. 

 

\---- 

The day concluded with an assembly. Harry avoided Louis' eyes the entire time. He was so afraid that this meeting was about him, that his mother really was going through with a humiliating trial on his behalf. He stood at the back of the hall, placing his fingers to his lips every time a student started to be unsettled. 

His mother was standing up the front, reading off the usual announcements, assembly's were usually held on Monday morning, so this wasn't the usual event. Everyone was confused as to why it had been called for, and Harry could feel his stomach tightening as he waited and waited for that very last announcement to be read. He had hope that maybe she wouldn't do it, maybe this was held for another reason, but he knew that he didn't have that kind of luck on his side, never had. 

"Your teachers are going to be passing around some paper to you, and a pencil." Anne announced. Students immediately started to squirm in their seats, looking towards their classroom teachers as they tried their hardest not to gossip about whatever this may be about. 

"You're going to write me a letter." Anne told them, which was rewarded with a few snorts, and some sarcastic comments that were soon shot down by glares from the teachers standing in the aisles. 

"You can write me whatever you'd like, you can tell me what changes you want in this school, tell me what you had for lunch - or you can tell me about anyone who has to your knowledge, wronged a student or teacher. If you know anything about any bullying, any harassment or damage to property. I want you to tell me if you've witnessed this, if you know somebody who is doing these things we don't allow in our school." Harry tried his hardest not to groan at the words leaving his mother's lips. This was so humiliating, even though 99% of this school had no idea that she was doing this on his behalf, he still felt like an idiot. How dare she do this so publicly? He knew that nobody would write anything useful, that he could just give her the names of the boys who tripped him, but he wasn't going to do that. Dobbing on bullies just made you seem weak, and he was a teacher for goodness sake. 

"This will be anonymous, so don't be scared of telling the truth. You will be helping us better our school for all of you." 

And that's when Harry was handed a handful of ripped up paper squares. He stood at the end of the back row, handing the pages one by one, watching as they landed the end of the row, and the teacher on the other end started handing out pencils, this was just a standard procedure for most of the staff members, but Harry and Louis knew this was about a damn book, and Harry was just humiliated.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sorry for any mistakes, I literally wrote this on my ipod during my lunch break.
> 
> Let me know what you think so far x


	3. Coming Together

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Still getting the hang of this writing regularly thing. 
> 
> If you're enjoying this please let me know, I really need feedback so I can write something that you guys will actually enjoy!

Louis woke up to the sounds of their shower running. He could hear Harry humming gently against the flow of the water, it always made him smile when he heard Harry being even semi musical. He couldn't play an instrument, but Louis had seen him tapping his fingers against things rhythmically, and he had rhythm. He just didn't know it yet. 

Louis let out a groan, climbing out of their bed. He was so tired and grumpy, he and Harry had spent hours just arguing before bed, they'd kissed and made up before finally falling asleep but the whole experience had been quite draining. He lifted his hands up over his head, yawning and trying to stretch himself out. He really didn't want to repeat a day like they'd just had. Harry could get quite loud and scary when he was angry, and Louis absolutely hated being the cause for such emotions. 

He understood why his husband was so upset, he understood that but he just got so frustrated when Harry couldn't see why he did it. He just wanted to help him, he wanted Harry to enjoy going to work everyday without having to deal with little shits who think it's alright to bully a grown man. It wasn't fair, it just absolutely was not fair on Harry. Everyone deserves to work at a place they feel safe at, and if Harry didn't help himself - Louis wanted to be there aqto give him that help.   
Scrub folder  
The big clumsy goof walked out with a towel wrapped around his middle, shaking his wet curls just like a dog. He paused in the doorway, staring over at his sleepy husband. He didn't speak, just dropped his towel without losing eye contact. Louis' eyes darted downward, a blush crawled across his cheeks as he shook his head. Yes, even after all these years Harry's body still made him giddy. "I don't suppose you're going to put that away are you?" He questioned, and Harry shrugged his shoulders, walking over to the bed. He flopped down beside of his husband, Louis curled over, laying so he could look at the beautiful man beside him. "You're making our pillows all wet. They're going to smell." He whispered, causing Harry to roll his eyes childishly. He sat himself up, propping the pillow up so he could sit against the bed head. 

Harry still hadn't said a word, but he was smiling and gentle in his movements so Louis knew he wasn't still mad, at least not in the way he was hours prior. He reached across to the night stand, fingers crawling blindly until they touched the edge of his mobile. He pulled it across, wanting to know the time, and how much they had left. He yawned again, since they'd made it under the sheets a lot later than normal, he was so tired, but that couldn't be helped. 

A groan left Louis' lips as he realised they were awake an hour earlier than usual. He frowned understandably and gave Harry and look that proved he was unimpressed. "Why are we awake? Is the sun even up?" He asked harshly, resting his arm across his eyes to shield himself from the light flooded bedroom. 

Harry chuckled to himself, leaning across to press his lips to Louis' quickly. "I was thinking we would have enough time to do this." He breathed, his breath hitting Louis' chin as he realised how close Harry was to him. He smiled and uncovered his eyes slowly. 

"What? You seriously woke us all up early so you could get some action?" He questioned in amusement, for such a long time Louis had been the one to call the shots in the bedroom, Harry had always been too gentlemanly for his own good. Even if he was in the mood, he'd never bring it up. He waited until Louis wanted it, so this was a pleasant surprise. 

His hands took hold of Harry's tiny hips as he avoided looking him in the eye. Harry was shy about this kind of thing, even now after years of being together, years of being in these exact positions, he was still as shy around him as he was their very first time. He could feel Harry's body shiver against his cold fingers, it made him smile, running them up and down his warm freshly soaked skin. "How bout, you just lay back, and I'll make you feel good." He whispered, moving his hands to curl Harry's hair behind of his ears. 

Harry didn't speak, he nodded his head ever so slightly as Louis pushed him off of his body. It was a swift movement, and Harry's wet head was resting against the sheets, and Louis didn't care about the smell anymore. 

He curled his fingers around the two dainty hips, they barely poked out, but his husband was skinny as hell, so those bones were prominent all the same. His lips trailed down from Harry's belly button, his tongue poking out so slightly as he moved his mouth downwards. Harry's breath hitched in his chest. He arched his back slightly, trying to get comfortable, trying to get closer to husband's lips.

Louis chuckled, Harry wasn't even hard yet. He was just bound by anticipation. He smiled to himself as he pushed Harry's hips back until his bum was firmly against the mattress once more. "Eager." He whispered, causing Harry to laugh softly underneath him. 

His tongue flickered around the base of Harry's cock which had twitched to attention as soon as Louis' lips had made contact. He was a squirmer, which drove Louis crazy, every damn time. He moved down between his husband's legs, resting his elbows against his bony knees, he was truly beautiful, truly magnificent, even if Louis was looking at him from this angle. "Baby." He cooed, pressing soft kisses along his boy parts, his beautiful parts that drove Louis' head crazy, he was salivating at the temptation right in front of his face, he opened his mouth, welcoming Harry's penis in between his lips. He could feel Harry's body tense up, the familiar feeling was so warm and friendly. 

\--- 

As Louis walked into the school courtyard, he wore a smile on his face. Harry had driven in his own car, but be was still buzzing about earlier. He smiled at a few students who welcomed him, he greeted other teachers and felt alive, the air was chilling, but he felt warm inside. That was Harry, that was all Harry. After he'd sucked his husband off earlier, he'd needed a new shower, so he lured Louis in with him, only to fuck him against the shower wall, which okay definitely wouldn't have worked out if he hadn't so generously woken them both up an hour early, it was definitely worth the lack of sleep. 

Louis felt happy, not only were they back in a sex groove, Harry wasn't mad at him any longer. Which was always a great feeling. He jiggled his keys around his fingers as he wandered into his office, it was conjoined with the only music room on campus, his kingdom as he likes to call it. Unlike Harry's art cave, the room was lit with open windows, and posters of bands Louis was passionate about. He tried to keep up with the times too, adding a few pictures of current artists, just to keep the fan girls happy. He had never listened to Justin Bieber, and wouldn't recommend him to anybody, yet there his smiling face sat on Louis' expression board, it was a wall on the back of his classroom where students of any class could bring in photos of bands, or printed out lyrics and post them there as an expression. Maybe he and Harry weren't too different after all, every time Harry walked into his classroom, he'd walk to the back and take a look at the configuration of all the photos, Louis would have to stop him before he started moving things about to make it look more artistic. 

This morning he walked into his classroom, happy as Larry - he started work almost instantly, printing out a few pages of sheet music, setting up his projector so he could play videos on the big screen. He was excited, and he just wanted this day to go down well. It had almost slipped his mind that Harry probably wasn't walking into his classroom with the same enthusiasm. In fact he wasn't at all. 

Harry slumped into his desk chair, he folded his arms over his chest as he tried to make himself smile. He didn't want to be there, he didn't want to be in that classroom or the school for that matter. So when a knock on his classroom door interrupted his gloomy thoughts, he was startled. 

He poked his head upward, trying to spot who would be at his door. He wandered towards the entryway, opening it up just a crack. "How can I help you?" He asked, before pushing the door open a slither more to be able to face whoever his visitor was. 

The young girl smile softly, "Sorry to bother you Mr Styles, but you said I could work on my project whenever I wanted..." She pointed out, which Harry frowned at. He didn't remember saying such a thing, but really he didn't remember much from the day before, his head was still spinning from the blow job he'd had earlier. He could barely remember his name after that. It was a curse. 

"Sure, Amberley. Come in." He finally changed his tone, a small smile spreading across his lips as he pushed the door open for the young girl. "Just remember to tidy up when you're finished. I have written exams in here later." 

 

\------   
Anne was in a hurry, she’d been reading through the many notes her students had written after the assembly, most of them were nonsense. “Hope you have a nice day.” Or “Thomas has a big dick.” She didn’t expect anything less from the teenagers, but a part of her had been mildly disappointed by the lack of cooperation. Somebody had to know something, which was why she jumped out of her seat when she saw that someone had mentioned Harry by name.   
This was why she’d rushed straight to his classroom, hoping to run into him before the morning bell. “Harry,” She called through the door as she wandered in, she had keys to every room, so even if he’d locked it, she’d be able to walk right in. Harry was surfing on his laptop, jumping at the sudden voice that filled the empty silence he and Amberley had been comfortably sitting in.   
“Oh my, I didn’t realise you had a student.” She quickly apologised, her eyes meeting the young girl’s. Amberley was shy, Harry knew that, and Anne probably did too, which was why the two females engaged in a staring match for a lot longer than either felt comfortable with. It was probably a little daunting Harry thought to himself. To him, she was just his mother, but to a student – she was the scary principal who could ruin your life if you misbehaved, she was the one who called your parents if you messed up on a grade, or from being a brat. To most people, she was this scary old lady, but to Harry she was just his mummy, and although they didn’t interact much in front of the students, outside in the real world, he could cuddle her just like he used to as a child, despite the fact that he was currently angry at her for her assembly stunt. 

“Amberley is one of my most promising students.” Harry explained, he realised the eerie silence had become deafening, he just needed to fill the void somehow. Amberley smiled down at her painting, she’d never heard Harry praise anyone like that before, she’d certainly never been on that end of it anyway.   
Anne’s lips curved upwards into a smile, she glanced at the girl quickly before her eyes darted back to her son’s green ones. “I see, well how about you come swing by my office before the day is out. I have some things to discuss with you...” She told him, her voice trailing off as if she was trying to give him a clue about it being a private issue.  
He rolled his eyes, facing away from the young girl. She didn’t need to see her teacher acting no different to a moody teenager. “Right, well I’ll pop round later, see you.”   
His voice sounded polite, but the two relatives both knew he was only speaking that way for the sake of the young girl who was listening in.   
He gave his mother one last hardened stare before she turned on the balls of her feet, rushing off to fulfil her official school’s work.   
Harry wandered over to Amberley, for the first time he sat down beside her, taking hold of one of her 2B pencils, sketching an outline over the top of her work ever so gently. “You can erase this if you don’t like it, I just thought...” He said shyly, biting down on his bottom lip. His hair slunk across one of his eyes as he tried to hold back his embarrassment. He wasn’t used to spending time with someone who loved art, he looked across at her page, hoping she’d seen what he was trying to do, she didn’t speak. Instead she took the pencil from her teacher’s hand and started mimicking what he’d been doing.   
It was the first time he’d felt like he was truly cut out for being a teacher.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Thank-you for reading, tell me what you think so far x


	4. Chapter 4

Amberley and Harry spent hours together, she'd come in before school, during her lunch breaks and even staying after school some days a week. Harry wouldn't pack up the paints and pencil's, he'd leave them out, knowing or at least u hoping that she'd be there to use them. Louis didn't mind that Harry was spending the extra time at work, he didn't question it at least. He was happy that for the next week or so, his husband was happier, and he was going to school willingly. He felt like a proud parent truly. 

Anne was still trying to catch up with her son, since she's interrupted his art time with Amberley, she hadn't had a chance to talk things through with him. Every time she tried, he was already busy with another task, or he just flat out avoided her. The truth was that someone had spoken up, she didn't know who, but they had and she wanted to get to the bottom of it all. Her son had never been what you'd call normal. He'd always stuck out like a sore thumb. As a child, he would follow his big sister around like a lost sheep, struggling to find any other friends. She'd dress him up in her clothes and her doll make up, which Harry didn't mind. He just loved the admiration in Gemma's eyes as she admired her own handiwork. 

Harry had never actually come out to his mother, or anyone else for that matter, he'd just brought home boyfriends and nobody questioned it. He was like that, he never brought unnecessary attention upon himself, he was constantly just doing things, and if you didn't like it. He just didn't pay you any attention. He was always in his own world. 

Art was a huge part of that world. He loved the feeling of expressing himself without words, he's never been a keen conversationalist. He was always closing himself off, not knowing how to respond in social situations, he was a quiet old soul, which was why he enjoyed Amberley's company so much. She was quiet, she was reserved and she didn't talk much. They bonded over their love of art without saying a word. Sometimes they'd mutter "pass me the lilac water colour." But that was all.

It was a Sunday evening, which meant it was roast night. Harry and Louis hardly ever spent Sunday dinners with each other, they were always too busy marking or preparing for Monday's classes. This Sunday was different, they'd been invited over to Anne's house for a proper sit down dinner. Harry didn't want to attend, but Louis wasn't taking no for an answer. He missed proper dinners, he missed family time and he's hardly seen Harry all week. 

Gemma sat across from her younger brother, a smirk on her face as he met her eye. They were closer now as adults, and Gemma was about to tease him about something. He could just tell by the sparkle in her eye and the look on her face. "So, tell me about your new girlfriend." She joked, causing Louis to drop his fork unexpectedly. He didn't realise that she was merely making a joke. 

Harry rolled his eyes and looked over towards his husband. "She means Amberley." He quickly filled Louis in. Louis shook his head and burst out in a shocked laughter. 

"OHHHH that girlfriend." He mused, patting Harry's arm gently. 

Anne wasn't impressed by this loose conversation. She knew more than anyone how teachers had to be careful with their words, the last thing Harry needed was for things to get misconstrued. She's already had complaints from conservative parents about employing two gay men in her school, which was absurd, but she was feeling ill at the thought of anyone suspecting Harry was having relations with a fourteen year old student. "Gemma, that's enough." She said sternly, her eyebrows knitting together in a disapproving frown. 

Gemma ignored her mother's tone, wriggling her eyebrows in Harry's direction. "From what I hear, you've been spending more time with her than with your own husband, what's up with that?" She questioned, wriggling her fork in between her mess of green peas. Oh how she hated peas. 

Harry shot glances between his mother and husband, wondering which one of them had given Gemma that provocative idea. 

"It was a joke." Louis defended, holding his hands up in surrender. He had been talking to Gemma a lot lately, texting mostly, just giving her the 411 of their lives. It had been a long time since they'd actually sat facing each other, a long time since they'd actually acted like a family. He'd missed it. 

 

"She's just a kid who likes to draw." Harry said plainly, taking a mouthful of his mashed potato, just wanting an excuse not to talk about it any further. 

"Oh how lovely." Gemma cooed, giving Louis a knowing look. They've all been waiting for Harry to realise that maybe he just wasn't teacher material, or that somehow he would just miraculously snap out of his shy demeanour, and become the kind of teacher he thought he'd end up being by now. The kind of teacher that loved his job. He hadn't done either of those things yet, and they were all slightly concerned. 

 

"Stop condescending me." Harry told her, finally swallowing his mouthful. Louis kicked Harry's foot underneath the table, trying to tell him to calm down. They all knew Gemma was just being a tease, but Harry seemed to be taking it to heart right now. He glanced over at Louis, an unreadable expression on his tired looking face. 

It was silent for most of the remainder of the evening, which was a rare occurrence in this family home.

**Author's Note:**

> If you'd like to see more, please don't hesitate to leave a review. I've had writers block for a very long time so any encouragements will help pull me back into the swing of things. Thank-you so much for reading.


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